Ken Kutaragi Ascends

Ken Kutaragi, commonly known as the father of the PlayStation and currently the head of Sony Computer Entertainment, has received a major new promotion.

Sony Corp. said today that Kutaragi was appointed executive deputy president and will head the parent company's new Broadband Network Co, which is responsible for next-generation DVD recorders. Kutaragi will also head up the parent company's game business group, Sony said in a statement while retaining his position as the president of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.

Sony also boosted the positions of several other people: Howard Stringer, chairman of Sony Corp of America, to vice chairman of the parent company (and named him regional representative for the Americas); Goran Lindahl, a Swede who sits on Sony's board of directors and formerly headed Swiss-Swedish engineering group ABB; He will be Sony group's European representative; and Minoru Morio, another vice chairman, will take charge of East Asia.